KHTS
By: Louie Diaz 

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Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, introduced bipartisan and bicameral legislation Wednesday with Rep. Mike Levin, D-CA, to allow servicemembers and their families to terminate household contracts if forced to move abruptly.

The legislation is aimed to help servicemembers cancel telephone, cable and internet service contracts if they receive military orders for a permanent change of station (PCS) but then receive a stop movement order due to an emergency situation like the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Garcia.

The Emergency Relief for Servicemembers Act was also introduced by Senators Kevin Cramer, R-ND, and Maggie Hassan D-NH.

Recently, many military families have suffered personal financial losses after entering new telephone, cable or internet service contracts ahead of their scheduled PCS move but then receiving a stop movement order from the Department of Defense (DoD).

As a result, these military families have to pay for services in two locations — one for their current duty station and another at their intended PCS location, Garcia said.

Garcia’s legislation amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to allow servicemembers to terminate a telecommunications contract without penalty upon receiving a PCS order followed by a stop movement order.

“The COVID-19 pandemic caused many military families to halt their planned moves on military orders. This resulted in an unforeseen burden that left many families trapped in two telecommunications contracts,” Garcia said. “I am proud to introduce this bipartisan, bicameral bill that would fix an issue brought to light by the COVID-19 Pandemic. It would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to allow servicemembers to terminate phone, cable and internet contracts if a disaster prevents a scheduled move order. This is a small but meaningful fix that would make life a little easier for the men and women in uniform that protect this country. I’m grateful to work with Congressman Levin and Senators Cramer and Hassan on this important legislation and I hope it quickly moves to the President’s desk.”

Earlier this year, Garcia introduced the bipartisan and bicameral Military Spouse Licensing Relief Act to further support military families. Garcia’s bill would allow for military spouses with professional licenses to continue to utilize their license when moving to a new state on military orders.

His bill recently passed the House as an amendment to the House FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act.